The end of this Test summer is a time for calm reflection. In cricket, it’s important not to get too up when you’re doing well. Equally, not too down when you’re not.
When England were 5-0 up, winning everything in front of them, it wasn’t a time to say: ‘Wow, their Test cricket is unstoppable.’
They have been playing West Indies and Sri Lanka at home with the Dukes ball – two sides they should, and did, beat. The pleasing aspect of those five wins in a row was they seemed like they’d had a good look at themselves and version 2.0 of Bazball was coming together.
This summer has featured a real changing of the guard, having moved on from Stuart Broad and then Jimmy Anderson and the young picks coming in – most notably Gus Atkinson – have done very well.
But much harder challenges lie ahead. Next year features a home series versus India followed by Australia away, so I never felt these 2024 successes were any more than small steps on a journey to winning against those two teams.
England claimed a 2-1 summer series win over Sri Lanka despite losing the final Test at The Oval
England have been playing West Indies and Sri Lanka at home with the Dukes ball – two sides they should, and did, beat
Brendon McCullum’s 2.0 version is coming together as England begin to take shape ahead of difficult tests next year
In the same way, defeat this week, mustn’t be met with: typical Bazball, rubbish, England are taking the mickey out of the game.
Yes, some of England’s players took their eyes off the ball and didn’t recognise moments in the game that they could have absolutely nailed things. But give Sri Lanka a lot of credit for the way they fought back. When I played against Sri Lanka, they were at their best when they were aggressive.
Off the field, Kumar Sangakkara and Mahela Jaywardene were sofly spoken, nice people. On it, they were a different proposition.
This week, the current Sri Lankan side showed aggression with the ball through Lahiru Kumara and the two Fernandos, Vishwa and Asitha, and calm elegance with the bat in the form of Pathum Nissanka.
Yet England must assess how from 261 for three, they were bowled out for 325. Were players dismissed? Or did they simply give their wickets away? Some of their play reminded me of their recklessness during the Lord’s Test against Australia last year.
Sri Lanka worked on Harry Brook’s patience to start that first innings collapse, exposing a slight technical fault – he doesn’t get his foot across to the wider deliveries. Pakistan, New Zealand, India and Australia will have taken note.
They must also work out how they were bowled out for 156 in 34 overs second time around, reminding themselves that grinding out a score if a viable alternative in Test cricket.
This week, the current Sri Lankan side showed aggression with the ball with Pathum Nissanka (right) batting superbly
On Monday, England looked flat, and proceedings had an end-of-season feel about them
When you’re ahead of the game, you only have to be bowled out cheaply once to lose. So, even if you’re 62 runs ahead on first innings, you must keep the opposition down and take the contest as deep as you can. Instead, England collapsed in a heap.
On Monday, they looked flat, and proceedings had an end-of-season feel about them. They seemed tired. Atkinson’s speeds dropped following that thigh niggle. A Test debut appeared to take a lot out of Josh Hull and his quad was heavily strapped.
I couldn’t work out why Shoaib Bashir didn’t bowl more. That would have been a learning curve for him. An opportunity to show the attacking version of himself we witnessed against West Indies at Trent Bridge.
England need to maintain their development and this result has served as a reminder that if you are not ruthless, you won’t keep winning Test matches – and certainly not against the world’s best.
